European Economic News

Business confidence from Germany is due on Thursday, headlining a light day for the European economic news. At 2.45 am ET, France's statistical office Insee publishes final inflation data and business sentiment survey results. The manufacturing sentiment index is seen unchanged at 113 in February.

The UK jobless rate increased for the first time in nearly two years in the fourth quarter and wages grew at a steady pace. The unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent in the three months to December, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. This was the first increase in almost two years. The jobless rate was expected to remain at 4.3 percent.

Eurozone private sector growth continued to be strong in February, albeit with the rate of expansion cooling from the near 12-year high seen in January, flash data from IHS Markit showed Wednesday. The composite output index dropped more-than-expected to 57.5 from 58.8 in the previous month. The score was forecast to fall to 58.4. Nonetheless, a score above 50 indicates expansion.

The UK budget balance showed surplus in January, the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday.
Public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, was in GBP 10 billion surplus in January. This was the second highest January surplus on record. Economists had forecast a surplus of GBP...

The UK jobless rate increased in the fourth quarter, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday.
The ILO unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent in three months to December. In the same period of last year, the rate was 4.8 percent.
The rate was forecast...

Eurozone private sector growth continued to rise at a steep pace in February, albeit with the rate of expansion cooling from the near 12-year high in January, flash data from IHS Markit showed Wednesday.
The composite output index dropped to 57.5 from 58.8 in the previous month. The score was forecast...

Germany's private sector expanded strongly in February but the pace of growth slowed from a near seven-year high seen in January, flash data from IHS Markit showed Wednesday.
The composite output index dropped unexpectedly to a 3-month low of 57.4 from 59.0 in January. The reading was expected to...

France's private sector expanded at the slowest pace in four months in February, flash survey data from IHS Markit showed Wednesday.
The composite output index fell more-than-expected to 57.8 from 59.6 in January. The indicator signaled the slowest growth since October 2017 and stayed below the forecast...

Norway's unemployment rate rose slightly in December, the latest labor force survey from Statistics Norway showed Wednesday.
The jobless rate came in at 4.1 percent in December, up 0.1 percentage point from September. The rate was forecast to remain at 4 percent.
Unemployment increased by 2,000...

Flash Purchasing Managers' survey from euro area and unemployment from the UK are due on Wednesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news. At 3.00 am ET, IHS Markit releases France's flash PMI data. The composite PMI is seen at 59.2 in February versus 59.6 in January.

Dutch consumer confidence dropped marginally in February, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday.
The consumer sentiment index came in at 23 versus 24 in January.
Opinion about the economic climate and willingness to buy were less positive in February. Consumers were less...

Switzerland's central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates until 2020 as inflation is set to remain weak as exchange rate effects unwind, Stephen Brown, an economist at Capital Economics, said.
Headline inflation slowed to 0.7 percent in January from 0.8 percent in December, official data showed...

The Eurogroup decided to give support to the candidacy of Spain's Luis de Guindos for the position of the Vice President of the European Central Bank.
The 58-year old Spain's outgoing Economy Minister has also held prominent positions in the banking sector.
de Guindos will replace Portugal's...

Germany's economic confidence declined less-than-expected in January, survey results from the Mannheim-based think tank ZEW showed Tuesday. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment dropped to 17.8 points in February from 20.4 in January. Though the score was above the expected level of 16.0, it was below the long-term average of 23.7.